How Do You Become a Juror?

Jurors are chosen randomly from people listed on the ACT Electoral roll.  If you are selected, you will receive a jury summons telling you when and where to attend court.

If you are required, you must attend court on the date listed in your summons with other members of your jury pool for jury empanelment.

Online Jury Questionnaire

After you reading your summons you will need to log onto the online jury questionnaire.  The questionnaire allows you to let us know if you can attend jury service or if you are asking to be excused, exempted or deferred from jury service.  Information about logging onto the system can be found here .

Disqualified, Ineligible, Exempt or Deferred

You may be disqualified from performing jury service for a period of time due to a criminal conviction. The timeframes for disqualification from jury service are outlined in Juries Regulations 2018 and can be located here.

You are ineligible for jury service if you do not reside in the ACT. Please advise the Jury Management Unit if you have moved since receiving your summons.

Certain occupations in the ACT make you exempt from doing jury service.  If you fall into one of these categories, you will need to apply for exemption and provide relevant documentation to support your application. The categories of exemption are outlined in the Juries Regulations 2018 and can be located here.

You may ask to be excused from jury service in some circumstances, which are outlined in the Juries Regulations 2018 and can be located here. You may also ask to be excused for the following reasons:

• Self employed/business owner
• Student
• Childcare responsibilities
• Casually employed

You can ask to have your jury service deferred to a later date if you are unable to attend during the summons period.  Usually, people will ask for a deferral due to holidays, work commitments, medical reasons etc. When completing the application for deferral please provide relevant documentation to support your application and let us know of a more suitable time.

Jury Empanelment

Empanelling is the process of selecting the final 12 jurors who will hear a particular case.  All potential jurors wait together as part of the jury pool.  A court officer randomly selects jurors (often by number).  When your number is called, you move to the jury box.

The prosecution or defence may object to a potential juror (this is called a challenge).  This process continues until there are 12 jurors selected.  This is the standard number is a jury trial in the ACT, however in some situations up to 16 jurors may be selected.

Once selected, jurors then take an oath or affirmation to perform your duties as a juror.

Not everyone who attends court for an empanelment will be selected.  If you are not chosen, you may be asked to return later or be discharged from your summons.

What Do Jurors Do During a Trial?

Jurors have a serious and important role.  Their main responsibilities include listening to evidence and witness testimonies, following the judge’s directions, and remaining impartial and fair.

The judge explains the law and gives instructions on how the jury must approach the case.  Jurors must follow these directions.

Jurors must keep an open mind, not discuss the case with anyone outside the jury deliberation room, and avoid media or online information about the case.  This ensures that their final decision is based only on what is heard in court.

After all the evidence is presented, the jury returns to the jury deliberation room to discuss the case and reach a verdict.  Only 12 jurors are required to reach a verdict.  If, at the time the jury retires to consider a verdict there are more than 12 jurors, additional jurors are balloted off until only 12 remain.

When deciding on the verdict, jurors must review the evidence, discuss their views respectfully, and work towards a unanimous decision (or a majority decision if allowed).

Once they have come to a decision, the jury returns to court and announces its verdict of guilty or not guilty.

Jurors do not decide the sentence.  If the accused is found guilty, the judge decides the sentence to be imposed.

Jury Payments

The amount you will be paid for jury service is set out in the current Juries (Payment) Determination. Please be aware that it may take some weeks after your jury attendance has finished before payment is made.

Public Servants

Public Servants should receive their normal salary whilst on jury duty as you can claim jury service is your Enterprise Agreement.  You will receive the daily travel/parking allowance, which is yours to keep.

Non-Public Servants

For private sector employees, other than casuals, your employer is required by the National Employment Standards to make up the difference between your jury payments and your normal basic pay for the first 10 days of jury service.  It is wise to check with your Human Resources department to find out what arrangements are in place for people on jury service.

If you are receiving a government pension, you will need to declare the jury payment to Centrelink as it will be considered ‘income’.

For more information regarding jury service, please refer to the Jury Handbook.